Simone is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of
Bologna, Honorary Professor at Bayes Business School(City St George, University of London) and Visiting Fellow of the Center on Organizational Innovation at Columbia University. He earned his PhD from the Management Department
of the University of Bologna, and has been a visiting scholar at
the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and at the Stern
School of Business, New York University. After obtaining the PhD he
was Post-doctoral Fellow at Cass Business School and Research
Fellow at the Centre for
Technology Management of the University of Cambridge. He
is also a lifetime member of Clare-Hall College in Cambridge (UK).
Simone’s research interests include entrepreneurship, creativity, processes of social evaluation, and social networks. His work has been published in a variety of international journals and books, including American Sociological Review, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Studies, Strategic Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Research Policy, Industrial and Corporate Change, and Journal of Management.
He has served as the principal investigator for numerous national (PRIN) and international projects (FP7, H2020, ERC, NSF) and has been awarded the European Commission’s Seal of Excellence on multiple occasions.
He is the co-founder of the Medici Summer School in Management Studies, one of the most prominent and well known international doctoral training initiatives in the field of Management and Organizational Studies. The school is organized yearly in collaboraton with HEC Paris and MIT Sloan.
Simone served as the director of the MSc in General Management and the MSc in International Management of the University of Bologna and was the founding director of the
Green Energy and Sustainable Businesses MBA of
the Bologna Business
School. Over the past 10 years he has advised several startups and remains engaged
in various initiatives designed to encourage and support students
in the creation, development, and commercialization of innovative
ideas. In this capacity he has been instrumental in the conception, design and implementation of ICARO, an innovative 5 months entrepreneurial education program developed and funded by the Golinelli Foundation to inspire the entrepreneurial mindset of young university students through real business challenges.
In 2015, Simone founded UNIBO Launch Pad, the first university-wide entrepreneurial acceleration program in Italy. The program aimed to support young scientists in turning their research findings into innovative ideas. In 2019, with the support of the Golinelli Foundation, it was rebranded as ReActor and expanded to a national level. Simone led the program through this transition and continued to oversee it until 2022.
Simone is the recipient of multiple teaching awards, including the title of Most Inspirational Professor, directly conferred by the MSc students and Best MBA Professor, awarded by Bologna Business School. In recognition of his contributions to advancing entrepreneurship in higher education, he was honored as a runner-up for the title of European Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year in 2022, an award conferred by ACEEU (Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial & Engaged Universities) in collaboration with the Triple Helix Conference.
Simone's research has been popularized through prominent national and international outlets, including The Economist, Sloan Management Review, and Harvard Business Review.
